Professor, can I talk to you about my grade?

Well, this week seems to be article posting week!

I blame my lovely and intelligent friends on all of my various boards and on Twitter. They are an amazing, interesting, and varied bunch.

Anyway, here's the article on the inflated sense of entitlement in today's college students.

"“Many students come in with the conviction that they’ve worked hard and deserve a higher mark,” Professor [Marshall] Grossman [U of Maryland] said. “Some assert that they have never gotten a grade as low as this before.”



He attributes those complaints to his students’ sense of entitlement.


“I tell my classes that if they just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” he said. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”"

[snip]

"James Hogge, associate dean of the Peabody School of Education at Vanderbilt University, said: “Students often confuse the level of effort with the quality of work. There is a mentality in students that ‘if I work hard, I deserve a high grade.’"

And these quotes by students just floored me:

"Jason Greenwood, a senior kinesiology major at the University of Maryland echoed that view.



“I think putting in a lot of effort should merit a high grade,” Mr. Greenwood said. “What else is there really than the effort that you put in?”


“If you put in all the effort you have and get a C, what is the point?” he added. “If someone goes to every class and reads every chapter in the book and does everything the teacher asks of them and more, then they should be getting an A like their effort deserves. If your maximum effort can only be average in a teacher’s mind, then something is wrong.”

Yes, Jason, honey. What's wrong is that you HAVE NOT ACHEIVED ANYTHING. 

Let's say you're stranded on a desert island and there's a cache of food under a large stone.  You go out every day and struggle against that stone - go out 10 times a day and push and groan and really really really make an effort to move that bloody great stone so that you can eat.  But no matter how hard you try, the basic fact is: if you don't move that stone - if you are too small or too weak or whatever other reason - you will not eat.

Just because you pay your money and show up and read the books and attend class doesn't guarantee you an education. You gotta LEARN shit. When you get out in the real world  knowing nothing about kinesiology (what IS that anyway?) you won't be able to tell your boss "Well, I tried really hard!"

Would you like a surgeon operating on you who couldn't recall the basics of gross anatomy but he got good grades cuz he TRIED really hard?!

More student nuggets of wisdom:


"Sarah Kinn, a junior English major at the University of Vermont, agreed, saying, “I feel that if I do all of the readings and attend class regularly that I should be able to achieve a grade of at least a B.”

Yes, Sarah, you should be able to, but you have to show your professor that you actually know something about English not just that you could be arsed to show up for class.


Best quote from article: “Instead of getting an A, they make an A,”

That's right.  We earn what we get.  What a concept.

Parents you are SO falling down on the job. I swear it starts with kindergarten graduations and peewee soccer games where everyone gets a trophy whether they played well or stood on the sidelines whinging. It starts with parents expecting their little perfect miraculous angels to be responsible for their own farking actions.

(PS: yes, I Googled kinesiology.)


 

Is that all you got, universe?!

*sigh*

So, apparently we were behind with the Gods of Happenstance on our Agony Dues and are now being properly caught up.

Got home Monday to discover the heater running, the house freezing, and a horrible chemical smell all through the house.

Took the furnace (it's an ancient gaspack) cover off, tested the fan (which tends to stick), rang the gas company to be sure we were green, checked all the electrical junctions.  Well, it's got gas, got spark, fan works, and it will fire up ... but then the flames go out and it just blows cold air (and gas?!) into the house.

So the heater is broken.  We've been getting by on a small electric space heater and the wood stove (which is in the kitchen - opposite end of the house from the bedrooms).*

Is there some universal rule that All Bad Crap Must Happen At Once? 

The medical bills just started coming in and the prescription costs have been eating us alive. Just the cost of the strips Bodog needs for his blood tester (he must check his blood 4 times a day) is astounding.

My truck is acting up, my tractor won't stay cranked, and the roof still leaks.

Hmm.  I guess it could be worse ... the chainsaw could be broken. ROTFL!

OH, on the subject of Bitty and school, I got some pics of her at the end of the day her first day:

She did quite well and was eager to go back.  She did, however, have a meltdown yesterday.  I'm trying not to stress about it, but it was so painfully clear that it wasn't a 'normal' kid reaction to the situation (some other classmates had been rewarded with Smarties for good behaviour and Bitty, not understanding why she was excluded, had had her typical reaction: cry, then shut down like a switched-off robot.)

I suppose that both she and I (and her teachers) will learn more every day how to cope.  I hope I won't fret myself into an ulcer before then. *rolls eyes*

*We do have a parrafin (kerosene) heater for emergencies but, 1) it triggers my asthma so badly that I'm miserable whenever it's on and 2) I will only have it in the mud room (which has a concrete floor and a high ceiling).  I absolutely refuse to run it anythere else in my 140 year old tinderbox of a house.  Wood frame, wood floors, ultra low ceilings?  Nope.

I have a long rant over on the farm blog, if you dare. Also check out Bodog's v. first farm blog post right under it.

I just took Strong American Schools 8th grade quiz:








I took the Math one and missed one, although I don't understand why it was wrong (it was the rectangle one). But I suck so badly at maths that I was chuffed to have gotten a 90! Look at their interactive USA map to see how your state stacks up. South Carolina was shameful.

EDITED TO ADD: apparently the test is slightly different each time. Argh! I took the science one and missed one, too! I suck! How was I supposed to know what causes acid rain?

Whycuz they wern't a English test?

Drama close to home

So, my husband, the Mr Evil Genius, aka Bodog has put up and interesting blog post over on his personal blog about the bru-ha-ha over Irmo SC high school Principal Eddie Walker's resignation.

I had a huge, long post about it but could never finish it. See, I know the guy and I kept getting so damned angry at the idiocy (on BOTH sides of the argument) that I just couldn't get my thoughts together (Mrs Chili, I am not, lol! BTW, that's her design idea up top there).

Anyway, so, briefly:

I don't agree with Eddie. I'm sad that his narrow views of sexuality - which reflect the dogma of christianity - would cause him to resign his job. A job at which he excels. I'm sorry that Lexington/Richland district 5 will be losing such a good principal.

But, see, here's one thing that has been making me really angry about Eddie's resignation. Folks are so busy being outraged at his opinions that they forget that he has the right to have them.

Eddie can think whatever crazy thing he wishes. If he wants to believe that gay people have sex all the time willy-nilly he can. If he wants to believe the frankly ridiculous notion that is espoused by some christians that folks choose to be gay, then he can. If he wants to resign his job because of the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance ... then he can.

Eddie Walker is NOT trying to get the club shut down. He is NOT trying to ban gays at Irmo High School. He is just choosing to resign his job because they are asking him to support something with which he feels uncomfortable.

I DON'T AGREE WITH HIM, but I do agree that he has the right to his opinions - no matter how stupid I think they are - and the right to resign his job because of them.

Yet so many are vilifying the man rather than the idiotic religious pin-hole view of biology. He wasn't born with this bias, folks. It was indoctrinated into him by his church.

I can tell you, with the utmost confidence, that Eddie Walker would help out any fellow man regardless of race, creed, colour, or sexual orientation. He might disagree with a lifestyle but he would NEVER turn his back on another human being.

The media needs to instead tune into the voices of some of the TRULY prejudiced and bigoted parents whose children attend the district. These are the sick sorts who, instead of saying "well I don't agree with it but you have the right to get together as a club" are spouting hatred. THESE are the type of people who would happily BAN clubs that didn't match their ideals. Wrong sex, wrong race, wrong religion ... yer outta there.

Trust me. I've heard/read some mind-blowing moronic attitudes voiced around here recently.

Rather than attacking a good (if misguided) man we should be hacking at the root of the problem: those erroneous beliefs and an enormous group of people who have no grasp of SCIENCE.

Of dolts and duct tape

Ohhh, have I got one for you today!

I almost posted this over on Blue's Blog because I felt the need, upon reading this, to use (v. bad word) or maybe (oh dear! naughty!), so if one slips out, forgive me.

Check it out. Parents whinge about tape on doors.

"At a heated meeting Monday, Michelle Mata told the Lake Local school board in Millbury that the tactic panicked her son during a recent weekend trip to Chicago.
Sylvia Keeler said she may file charges. Her son, Mark Hummel, said he worried he could be trapped during a fire."

Oh cry me a river, emo boy! Trapped? By one piece of duct tape?

Well, I am of an engineering bent and love science, so I was fascinated and wanted to explore this topic.

Let's take a look at this.

This is the door to the bathroom in my home. It is much lighter that the average hotel room door (a heavier door would be advantageous to opening).



I taped it shut with not one but two bits of regular 3M duct tape like ye get from Lowe's:



Taped thus, the door came open easily.

Well, I don't know details of the hotel door taping and I also wasn't trying to get out from the inside. What I needed was help for this to be as accurate as possible.

How could I simulate a 'panicky' high school student?

Like this:



Yeah. Ohio moms? Yer kids are SO playing you and you need to wake up and start parenting.

For your further entertainment pleasure, here's a hot discussion on the subject.

Here it is over on our own Evil Genius Woman boards. Feel free to join us and tell us what you think!

Oh, by the way. Just a thought. Don't hotel doors open INWARD? That would make the whole thing moot. Even my 14 month old could the bloody damned thing.



The Human Crash Test Dummy: daughter of that woman who duct taped her child into the loo!

UPDATE! -

I just gleaned this from the Topix forum (abt page 133 I think) linked above:

"Okay people, i was one of the students in the room where the conflict arose. A simple strip wasn't all it was. It went from the wall around the handle twice back onto the wall. As simple as it sounds it was more. Yes, i agree everything has been blown out of proportion, but to sit there and riddicule everyone for not being able to open the door is rediculous. I don't for one beleive that this matter should have escaladed into a lawsuit, no. Personally i hope for everything to be closed and done sooner than what it seems to be. " (sic)

Uhm ...

I surely surely hope this is a joke. If this is an actual forum post by a student in this Millbury Ohio high school, then you Ohio Moms need to stop being concerned about duct tape! Not only do your wee delicate babes NEED to be taped in a room they need to be in there doing their English Homework!

First day of school, ever.

I'll be right over here worrying, if you need me.